Russian President Vladimir Putin transferred oversight of Russia’s nuclear efforts to the prime minister’s office yesterday (AFP Photo/ ITAR-Tass). Putin Shifts Bureaucracy Again; Atomic Energy Agency to Gain Status By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday transferred the governmental agency responsible for overseeing Russia’s nuclear efforts from the newly created Industry and Energy Ministry to the prime minister’s office, according to the Russian-American Nuclear Security Advisory Council (see GSN, May 20)...Full Story

U.S. House Approves White House CTR Funding Request By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday approved a Bush administration request for more than $400 million in the coming fiscal year for a U.S. Defense Department effort to help secure and eliminate weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union (see GSN, Feb. 11)...Full Story

House Backs Nuclear Weapons and Missile Defense Plans By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — In approving yesterday the largest defense budget in U.S. and world history, $447 billion, the U.S. House of Representatives also authorized funding for the Bush administration’s national missile defense program and nuclear weapons research and development activities (see GSN, May 13)...Full Story

	Friday, May 21, 2004

New U.S. Port Group Seeks Influx of Security Funds By Joe Fiorill Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — A new lobby group for public and private maritime institutions is seeking a major increase in federal funds for port security, the head of the group said today in an interview (see GSN, May 13). Funding would have numerous uses, including purchasing radiation detectors and protection of nuclear plants, said Director Jay Grant of the Port Security Council of America, whose founding was announced this week. Grant said the council would seek an uptick in federal funds, which should then be used by ports and facilities near ports ― nuclear plants and oil refineries, for example ― for whatever improvements they need. “We looked at it from the ports angle, initially ― that we needed to have the industry to start speaking with a single voice,” said Grant, a lobbyist who also represents several vendors of WMD-detection equipment for ports. “The whole idea was to get the stakeholders together so that we could start working with Congress on these issues,” he said. The council was founded at the initiative of the American Association of Port Authorities, a coalition of public port authorities in the United States, Canada and Latin America. The other founding members are the Chamber of Shipping of America, an industry group; the International Council of Cruise Lines, whose members include the largest passenger cruise operators, according to the new port council; and the Waterfront Coalition, which represents importers and exporters. Citing a Coast Guard estimate that more than $1 billion is needed for port security improvements this year, the council said it would seek to obtain “more federal funding for immediate port security requirements” and to “address the issue on a long-term basis to achieve necessary port-security capital requirements, which could run $5 billion to $10 billion over the next several years.”  Grant said the council would ask Congress to spend $400 million on port security in fiscal 2005, “only a fraction of what is needed.” According to a Heritage Foundation analysis, the Bush administration is requesting $50 million for port security grants in fiscal 2005, but the White House said in February that the budget proposal includes $1.9 billion "for DHS (Homeland Security Department)-wide port-security efforts." “We are at a critical juncture,” International Council of Cruise Lines President Michael Crye said in a prepared statement, “in making the investment necessary to protect the U.S. ports and the commerce and people that flow through them. It is incumbent that we find a suitable funding mechanism for the protection of U.S. commerce into the future.” Back to top

U.S. House Approves White House CTR Funding Request By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — The U.S. House of Representatives yesterday approved a Bush administration request for more than $400 million in the coming fiscal year for a U.S. Defense Department effort to help secure and eliminate weapons of mass destruction in the former Soviet Union (see GSN, Feb. 11). The House voted 391-34 in favor of the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill, which contains full funding for the administration’s $409.2 million request for the Cooperative Threat Reduction program, also known as the Nunn-Lugar program after its architects — Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman Richard Lugar (R-Ind.) and former Senator Sam Nunn (D-Ga.). The administration’s fiscal 2005 request was $41.6 million less than the program’s current funding level of $450.8 million The House version of the bill also contains a provision granting the president authority for one year to waive conditions set by Congress on providing CTR funding for chemical weapons disposal efforts in Russia, according to a Lugar press release. Such funding is set to be used to aid construction of a chemical weapons disposal facility near the city of Shchuchye. The U.S. Senate this week has debated its own version of the defense authorization bill, which also fully funds the White House CTR request. The Senate version of the bill, however, would grant the president a permanent CTR authority to waive conditions such as the requirement that Russia detail its full chemical weapons holdings. A Lugar spokesman told Global Security Newswire today that the issue of the waiver authorities is not likely to be one of “top contention” when the House and Senate work to resolve the bills. Meanwhile, Lugar’s office announced yesterday the progress the CTR program has made in recent months in reducing the number of former Soviet weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems. In the last two months, the CTR program has: *         removed 100 nuclear warheads from Russian missile systems; *         destroyed 15 SS-18 Satan missiles and eight related missile silos (see GSN, Dec. 18, 2003); *         destroyed six Backfire strategic bombers in Ukraine (see GSN, Sept. 30, 2003); *         destroyed 84 AS-4/Kh-22 long-range, nuclear-capable air-launched cruise missiles that were carried by Bear and Blackjack bombers (see GSN, Jan. 31); *         destroyed a total of 51 SS-N-23, SS-N-20, and SS-N-18 Russian submarine-launched ballistic missiles; and *         destroyed four SS-24 mobile ICBM launchers (see GSN, Feb. 11). In addition, a number of CTR-funded efforts are still being conducted in Russia and Ukraine, according to Lugar’s office, including the dismantlement of a second Russian Typhoon-class submarine, the dismantlement of Russian SS-18 and SS-24 ballistic missiles; and the elimination of the entire Soviet-era Backfire bomber fleet remaining in Ukraine. [EDITOR’S NOTE: Sam Nunn is chief executive officer of the Nuclear Threat Initiative and Senator Lugar serves on the NTI Board.  NTI is the sole sponsor of Global Security Newswire, which is published independently by National Journal Group.] Back to top       Moscow Unswayed by U.S. Nonproliferation Pressure Despite a visit this week to Moscow by U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton, Russia announced no changes to two policies the Bush administration is seeking to reverse: Russia’s nuclear assistance to Iran and its refusal so far to join a U.S.-led international effort to interdict WMD-related cargo shipments, according to Agence France-Presse (see GSN, May 20). During talks yesterday with Russian officials, Bolton discussed Russia’s construction of the Bushehr nuclear reactor for Iran — a project the Bush administration opposes. In a press conference following the talks, Bolton said Washington and Moscow still have some outstanding differences over Tehran’s nuclear efforts (see GSN, May 17). “There may be tactical difference on the Iranian issues … but there is no fundamental difference over the fact that Iran should not have a nuclear program,” Bolton said. Russian Federal Atomic Energy Agency Director Alexander Rumyantsev said yesterday, though, that Russia has not violated any international regualtions through its aid to Iran. “We have said, and continue to say, that we are not breaking any rules by cooperating with Iran,” Rumyantsev said (Dmitry Zaks, Agence France-Presse/Yahoo!News, May 20). Bolton also said yesterday that he hoped Russia would join the Proliferation Security Initiative before a planned June 1 conference in Poland to mark the one-year anniversary of the effort (see GSN, April 30). “Russia’s government asked a number of perfectly legitimate and sensible questions which we are trying to answer,” Bolton said. “But we think the government is now making its final decision on the subject and we are hopeful that they may confirm their decision to join the PSI core group,” he added. Russia is the only member of the Group of Eight global economic powers yet to join the PSI core group, Reuters reported. U.S. officials hope Russia’s involvement would push China toward joining the effort. Moscow, though, still has a number of concerns regarding the effort, such as its legality under international law, according to Reuters. “We have similar or close strategic goals with the United States as far as nonproliferation is concerned,” Interfax quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Kislyak as saying. “We are satisfied with the consultations, although not all details have been coordinated,” Kislyak added (Oleg Shchedrov, Reuters, May 20). Back to top       U.S. Customs Set to Screen Ship Cargo Leaving Tokyo U.S. Customs and Border Protection personnel are set to be deployed to Tokyo today to begin screening high-risk cargo containers being shipped to the United States, according to U.S. and Japanese officials (see GSN, March 12). Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Robert Bonner and the Japanese Customs and Tariff Bureau announced the deployment today as part of the Container Security Initiative. The port of Tokyo would become the 19th port to operate under that program, according to the announcement. “Because CSI will detect and deter attempts by terrorists to exploit cargo containers, the Container Security Initiative is an insurance policy against terrorism,” Bonner said in a prepared statement. Customs and Border Protection officers are already deployed to the Japanese port of Yokohama under a reciprocal bilateral agreement, and Japanese customs officials are operating in the U.S. port of Los Angeles/Long Beach (Homeland Security Department release, May 20). Back to top       CIS Defense Ministers Agree to Coordinate Positions on WMD Nonproliferation Defense ministers from most members of the Commonwealth of Independent States have supported a Russian proposal to coordinate positions on WMD nonproliferation, ITAR-Tass reported today (see GSN, May 17). The ministers “unanimously backs proposals on concerting positions of our countries on such a pressing international problem,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said. The decision to coordinate nonproliferation positions was made during a meeting of CIS defense ministers held in the Armenian capital of Yerevan, according to ITAR-Tass. The meeting was attended by representatives from all CIS members except Azerbaijan and Turkmenistan (ITAR-Tass, May 21). Back to top

Putin Shifts Bureaucracy Again; Atomic Energy Agency to Gain Status By Mike Nartker Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday transferred the governmental agency responsible for overseeing Russia’s nuclear efforts from the newly created Industry and Energy Ministry to the prime minister’s office, according to the Russian-American Nuclear Security Advisory Council (see GSN, May 20). Putin in March initiated a massive government restructuring project, which resulted in the dissolution of about half of Russia’s Cabinet-level ministries. Among the ministries affected was the Atomic Energy Ministry, which was transformed into the Federal Atomic Energy Agency and placed under the auspices of a new Industry and Energy Ministry. The agency, headed by former Atomic Energy Minister Alexander Rumyantsev, has broad oversight of both Russia’s civilian and military nuclear programs.  In a decree signed yesterday, though, Putin transferred the atomic energy agency to the direct supervision of the Russian government. According to RANSAC, the change would probably result in the agency reporting directly to Russian Prime Minister Mikhail Fradkov’s office.  Many of operational details of the agency’s new place within the Russian government remain unclear.  The transfer represents a “very important correction,” Rose Gottemoeller of the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace told Global Security Newswire. She said today that the agency might have lacked necessary authority to negotiate international agreements, such as those related to nonproliferation, had it remained within the Industry and Energy Ministry.  The transfer also represents “a great victory” for Rumyantsev himself, as he is likely to receive greater authority through the move, Gottemoeller added. Yesterday’s decree also again transfers within the government the Federal Service for Atomic Inspection, which monitors security at Russian nuclear facilities and research reactors and oversees the accounting, control and physical protection of nuclear materials. Under the new structure, the inspection service has moved from the Industry and Energy Ministry to be combined with the Federal Service for Technological Oversight to create the new Federal Service for Ecological, Technological and Atomic Inspection. This new service would also report directly to the prime minister’s office, according to RANSAC. According to RANSAC, the new Federal Industry Ministry, which assumed responsibility for Russia’s biological and chemical weapons destruction efforts upon the elimination of the Russian Munitions Agency, would remain within the Industry and Energy Ministry. Experts have said that the appointment of former Deputy Prime Minister Boris Alyoshin to head the industry agency could increase its prominence within the ministry. Back to top       House Backs Nuclear Weapons and Missile Defense Plans By David Ruppe Global Security Newswire WASHINGTON — In approving yesterday the largest defense budget in U.S. and world history, $447 billion, the U.S. House of Representatives also authorized funding for the Bush administration’s national missile defense program and nuclear weapons research and development activities (see GSN, May 13). Several potential Democratic amendments to the bill, which would have cut some missile defense program funding and required operational testing before deployment of systems, were blocked by the Republican-majority rules committee from reaching the floor for a vote. A Democratic amendment to block the nuclear weapons research and development plans was allowed, but was defeated in a narrow vote. The fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill, approved in a 391-34 vote, authorized $10 billion for ballistic missile defense programs, effectively approving a $1 billion increase over fiscal 2004 funding. The bill, however, authorized the administration’s plan for fielding an initial long-range missile defense capability beginning this year, despite Democratic objections over the system’s lack of proven effectiveness through operational testing. It also authorized initial funding for a second batch of missile defense capabilities — including land- and sea-based interceptors and a third missile base. The House vote also approved early funding for developing and testing a space-based interceptor by around 2010, and a request for testing an existing interceptor in space scheduled for early 2006. The bill fully authorized funding requested for fiscal 2005 by the Bush administration for nuclear weapons research and development for projects such as the Robust Nuclear Earth Penetrator and other Advanced Concepts nuclear weapons programs, and for the Enhanced Test Readiness program to reduce the preparation time for resuming nuclear testing if ordered. Democratic Efforts Prevented The Republican-controlled House Committee on Rules on Wednesday prevented several Democratic amendments challenging the administration’s missile defense deployment plans from reaching the House floor for a vote. One potential amendment by Representative John Spratt (D-S.C.) would have redirected $414 million for four ballistic missile defense programs to increase military personnel pay, reimburse life insurance premiums for troops in imminent danger, pay for increased force protection equipment for troops in Iraq, and improve the PAC 3 theater missile defense system. Two other amendments would have blocked deployment of missile defense systems that had not met operational testing requirements. “I think this is a tremendous amount of political cover for an untested system,” said Representative Ellen Tauscher (D-Calif.). “It’s our job to determine what we think are the most important issues for the House to debate, and that’s what we did with 28 bipartisan amendments,” said committee spokeswoman Jo Maney. The Committee on Rules allowed an amendment by Tauscher that would have transferred the requested $36.6 million for the earth penetrating nuclear weapon feasibility study and other Advanced Concepts work to “to increase both intelligence capabilities to get at hard and deploy buried targets” and to “improve conventional bunker-busting capabilities.” It failed in a narrow 204-214 vote. The overall defense budget increase, from $400.5 billion last year, includes an added $25 billion mainly to support operations in Iraq, a 3.5-percent pay increase and other benefits for members of the armed forces, and an additional $2 billion for more force protection equipment. Back to top       North Korea Light-Water Reactor to Remain Suspended Construction of a light-water reactor in Kumho, North Korea, is to remain suspended, despite discussions between Pyongyang and Washington about the possibility of restarting the project, Reuters reported today (see GSN, May 20). The board of the U.S.-led Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization, which manages the project, said after a one-day meeting in New York yesterday that the site of two prospective reactors remains under a one-year freeze that began in December 2003. “The board continues to monitor developments including diplomatic discussions,” KEDO spokesman Roland Tricot said. “The board decision on suspension remains in place until Dec. 1, 2004,” he added. In talks last week, Pyongyang offered to freeze its nuclear programs in exchange for the organization resuming construction. The State Department said the United States rejected the proposal (Reuters/Yahoo!News, May 21). Back to top       Missing Data Not a Security Threat, Los Alamos Says The Los Alamos National Laboratory said that data discovered missing this week posed no security risk, the Associated Press reported today (see GSN, Dec. 10, 2003). “This in our view is not a major event and it’s certainly not a breach of security,” said Kevin Roark, spokesman for the New Mexico facility. Roark said laboratory employees conducting an inventory of classified information could not locate the data storage device containing classified information. The storage device remained unaccounted for yesterday, and a federal review team is preparing to investigate, he added. “It’s our strong belief (it) was either destroyed or retasked (reused), but the proper paperwork wasn’t done to track its destruction or reuse,” Roark said. The laboratory said in a statement that the device was set to be destroyed in March as part of a plan to reduce what is called Classified Removable Electronic Media. “An extensive laboratory-wide effort to reduce Classified Removable Electronic Media has resulted in a single accounting discrepancy. Based upon an initial review, this discrepancy in no way constitutes a compromise of national security,” the statement said. “The lab can spin it however they want,” said Danielle Brian, executive director of the Project on Government Oversight, a Washington-based watchdog group. “Classified data is missing once again from Los Alamos,” she added. U.S. Representative Tom Udall (D-N.M.) issued a statement saying laboratory officials assured him that “the information does not contain nuclear weapons data.” The laboratory stopped work at its Nuclear Nonproliferation Division late last year after nine floppy disks and a large-capacity storage disk believed to contain some classified information were found to be missing (Associated Press/Yahoo!News, May 20). Back to top

Biological Arms Control Experts Question U.S. Laboratory A Homeland Security Department biological defense lab at Fort Detrick in Maryland could undermine an international ban on biological weapons by pushing other nations toward developing such weaponry, three biological arms control experts said this week (see GSN, April 29). James Leonard, who led the U.S. delegation that negotiated the Biological Weapons Convention in 1972, Richard Spertzel, a former official of the Army’s biological defense center at Fort Detrick and chief U.N. biological weapons inspector in Iraq, and Milton Leitenberg, an expert on arms control at the University of Maryland, collaborated on the statement posted on the Web site of the journal Politics and the Life Sciences. The work of Homeland Security’s National Biodefense Analysis and Countermeasures Center could include devising more dangerous viruses and bacteria in efforts to develop stronger vaccines and drugs, the Baltimore Sun reported. The center is operating out of temporary offices at Fort Detrick until its $200 million high-security laboratory can be built. “The rapidity of elaboration of American biodefense programs, their ambition and administrative aggressiveness, and the degree to which they push against the prohibitions of the Biological Weapons Convention, are startling,” the critics said (Leonard/Spertzel/Leitenberg, Politics and the Life Sciences, May 17). Leonard said he is concerned that other countries would view U.S. biological weapons research as a challenge.  “In French labs, German labs, Russian labs, Egyptian labs, scientists will say, ‘Look at what the United States is doing; we have to at least keep up,’” he said (Scott Shane, Baltimore Sun, May 21). Back to top       Health and Human Services Department Wants to Shift State Bioterror Funds to New Program U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson told lawmakers yesterday that he intends to shift $55 million from state bioterrorism projects to a new federal “Cities Readiness Initiative,” the Washington Post reported (see GSN, Dec. 15, 2003). The money would fund training of U.S. Postal Service letter carriers to deliver antibiotics or antidotes within 48 hours of a biological attack to 21 major cities, installing sophisticated disease surveillance equipment, purchasing vaccines and building new quarantine stations at U.S. airports, according to department documents. It makes sense to shift resources to “high-risk cities” most likely to be terrorist targets, said Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.), chairman of the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services. George Gould of the National Association of Letter Carriers said postal workers would be trained in handling the emergency materials and in security. However, several local officials and public health leaders protested the move. “We should not be in a situation of robbing Peter to pay Paul,” said Shelley Hearne, head of the Trust for America’s Health, a nonpartisan public health advocacy group. Thompson also received letters of protest from a bipartisan group of senators and the National Governors Association. “We shouldn't have to choose between filling the national vaccine stockpile or having a warning system at the state and local level,” said Sen. Evan Bayh (D-Ind.), who drafted the senators’ letter. “That’s a false choice and a manifestation of the budget problems we have,” he added (Ceci Connolly, Washington Post, May 21). The governors’ letter informs Thompson that they are committed to keeping their populations safe from bioterror but that “this can only be achieved through an equal, stable, and steady commitment from the federal government to continue supporting state bioterrorism preparedness initiatives.” The governors go on to urge the secretary to “honor the federal commitment and make sure that all appropriated funds are preserved to assist our states in building capability and capacity in the public health systems so we will be prepared to respond to and recover from bioterrorist attacks” (National Governors Association release, May 20). Back to top

Pakistan Expected to Test Longest-Range Missile Pakistan is reportedly planning next month to test its nuclear-capable Ghauri 3 ballistic missile, according to the Associated Press (see GSN, April 30). The Pakistani newspaper The Nation reported today that a Ghauri 3 missile, which has a range of 3,500 kilometers, is set to be tested June 3 from a site in northwest Pakistan, according to AP. While two senior Pakistani officials confirmed that work on a new missile is being conducted, they refused to provide details, AP reported. The missile’s reported range is nearly double that of Pakistan’s previous longest-range missile, and could reach almost any location in neighboring rival India, according to AP (Munir Ahmad, Associated Press, May 21). Back to top

Russia Should Develop Missile Defenses, Former U.S. Defense Secretary Cohen Says Former U.S. Defense Secretary William Cohen has called on Russia to develop a national missile defense system similar to that being developed by the United States, ITAR-Tass reported today (see GSN, May 14). “It is in Russia’s interests” to develop a missile defense system, Cohen said. “I hope we shall try to further cooperate in mutually beneficial defense programs,” he added (ITAR-Tass/BBC Worldwide Monitoring, May 21). Back to top       Correction GSN incorrectly reported this week that a proposed amendment by Senator Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) during the House Armed Services Committee markup of the fiscal 2005 defense authorization bill would have cut funding for ballistic missile defense (see GSN, May 19). The amendment, which was not adopted, would have frozen, or “fenced,” money for fielding a second batch of long-range interceptors until that equipment is operationally tested.     Back to top

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